Siege of Charles-Towne

The Siege of Charles-Towne (May 1718) was a week-long siege of the American port of Charles-Town, South Carolina that was undertaken by a pirate flotilla commanded by the feared pirate captain Blackbeard. Blackbeard had come north in search of medicine to treat the victims of the syphilis and scurvy outbreak in Nassau, having already stolen some medicine from the British after capturing the man o' war HMS Princess of London a month earlier. Blackbeard's flotilla stopped all ships entering or leaving the port, setting up a blockade. Over the next five to six days, Blackbeard's flotilla halted and ransacked nine vessels, and he took several prominent South Carolinians (including Samuel Wragg) hostage after capturing the London-bound ship Crowley. Blackbeard threatened to execute the prisoners and send their heads to the governor if the pirates did not receive medicine, but Charles-Towne governor Jonathan Wyat refused to give in to the pirates' demands. Blackbeard's friend and ally Edward Kenway decided to infiltrate the port and steal the medicine from under the British government's nose, and he managed to assassinate Wyatt after a chase to his mansion; Kenway proceeded to use Wyatt's key to steal the much-needed medicine, and the pirates returned to their ships. The pirates set the South Carolinian citizens free after stealing their valuable belongings (in some cases, including their luxury clothes), and Blackbeard's ships would leave harbor. After discovering that Woodes Rogeres and a Royal Navy flotilal were en route to the Caribbean to take down the Republic of Pirates on Nassau, Blackbeard decided to beach his flagship Queen Anne's Revenge and Israel Hands' ship Adventure at Beaufort Inlet in North Carolina, and he decided to take the King's pardon instead of returning to Nassau.